Are you involved in Arts and Live Music in London? If you are this will be of the utmost importance to you. There is a Parliamentary inquiry into how this can be protected and promoted. This article forms three parts. Part 1 – This is the email inviting submissions from interested parties. I received this in my capacity as founder of The Save London Music Campaign. Tomorrow I will publish my submission and on Wednesday a commentary. Please circulate to any interested parties

Today the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is announcing a new inquiry into Live Music.

The British live music industry attracted over 30 million music fans in 2016, with music tourism contributing £4 billion to the UK economy that year. However, despite the fact that festival and concert attendance continues to grow, the number of grassroots music venues have seen a drastic decline.

In addition, the growth of secondary ticketing continues to frustrate the public and threaten the sustainability of live music events. MPs will use this inquiry to continue investigating this problem, since the 2017 General Election cut short the previous Committee’s inquiry looking into ticket abuse. This inquiry launched today will aim to incorporate the findings and evidence that were submitted previously, and MPs will once again invite ticket reselling companies such as Viagogo to contribute evidence.

Chair of the Committee, Damian Collins MP, said:

“This inquiry will be an opportunity for the Committee to revisit the important issue of secondary ticket selling. We want to hear from the public about their direct experiences with this issue and what they think can be done to tackle it.

“We’ll also investigate what problems many small music venues face, as they struggle to keep their doors open despite the unwavering enthusiasm from the British public for live music.

“The Committee also welcomes the Government’s announcement today that the Agent of Change principle will form part of the National Planning Policy Framework for housing. As part of this new inquiry, we’ll be exploring other ways in which the Government can support upcoming artists and grassroots venues that form such a crucial part of the music scene in the UK.”

The Committee are looking to investigate the economic, cultural and social benefits that live music events bring to the public and are now inviting written evidence on the following areas:

Music Tourism: What are the economic benefits of music festivals and concerts? What can we do to solve the disparity of spending in cities and regions? How can we sustain music tourism especially audiences coming from the EU and overseas?

Impact of Brexit: What impact will Brexit have on British artists and international artists intending to tour in the UK? How can these effects be mitigated? What should the UK seek in the transitional arrangements in regards to music and live events?

Small Music Venues: How has the music sector been affected from the closures of small music venues across the country? Should small music venues be classified as cultural venues? What initiatives can be put in place to help grassroots artists and bands?

Ticket Abuse: How successful have the reforms been to secondary ticketing? What more needs to be done to act against market abuse from ticket touts?

Sustainability: How has music provision been affected by education reforms? How can people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds access quality music education?

Impact of live events: What are the economic and social benefits of festivals and cultural events to the towns in which they are held? What measures can be taken to extend their success across to the live music sector?

Written evidence can be submitted via this link on the Committee’s website until 5pm on the 28th February 2018.